Sri Lanka to tighten migrant laws to reduce asylum seekers

COLOMBO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka is planning to amend its migration laws to take stricter action against illegal asylum seekers after numbers topped 530 in July, an official said here on Monday.

Given the increasing numbers of people illegally attempting to migrate to Australia, an amendment to the Immigration and Emigration Act has already been sent to the Legal Draftsman, said Controller General Chulananda Perera.

"There is a great need to upgrade the legal framework for illegal migrants and human smugglers. Once the amendment is complete it will be presented before parliament," he told a media.

The External Affairs Ministry has already called on countries receiving illegal Sri Lankan migrants to deport them home.

In July alone over 530 people were detained by Sri Lankan authorities while attempting to illegally migrate to Australia.

Australian authorities reported that over the past month asylum seeker numbers have trebled, hitting the same digits as in 2009, when Sri Lanka ended a three decade conflict.

Over the first half of this year, 1,346 asylum seekers claiming to come from Sri Lanka have arrived in Australian territory, according to the figures released by the Australian immigration department.